Windshield cleaner



May 21, 1935. B. A. BEAN, JR 2,002,336

WINDSHIELD CLEANER Filed Oct. 17, 1929 /1 2 1% 51 4/1 I lu Patented May21, 1935 Q UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

WINDSHIELD CLEANER Barton A. Bean, Jr., Williamsville, N. Y., assignorto Trico Products Corporation, Buffalo, N. Y.

Application October 17, 1929, Serial No. 400,342

12 Claims. (01. 15-252) This invention relates to improvements in thethe windshield showing th coupler clutching full-vision type ofwindshield cleaners as disme ns and carriage of Fi tinguished from theoscillating wiper type which 4 is a horizontal Sectional e through theclears only a restricted area, onthe windshield o p r chi elem nt.

5 for observing trafllc conditions while driving dur- Referring more indetail to the mp nyin 5 ing inclement weather. In the generally knowndrawing, the Windshield Cleaner herein p t electric type, as well as inthe preferred fluidas being representative of the full Vision yppressure type, such as that di l s d i Pat nt embodies a motorconstruction similar to that No. 1,716,135 granted to Henry Hueberon'June set f h in h said p n n m y be ri fly 1o 4, 1929, the wipers arevertically disposed and described as Comprising a y d l dable travelhorizontally to clean the windshield for back and forth upon theCombined atmosphere practically its entire width. Because of this factand suction p p of which y One s herein i usthis cleaner is much moredesired than the osciled, designated y e numeral A easing lating type ofwindshield cleaner in which the 3 houses the cylind l and is p d n tszone or area cleaned is restricted to the arcuate lower side with a slotdefined by spaced guide 15 path of the wiper, flanges 4. The wipercarriage is indicated by At intervals, the inner surface of the windthnum ral 5 nd s pp the spaced w p shield glass requires a cleaning of theparticles of carrying arms 6, on the lower ends of which are dust, vaporand other vision-obscuring matter carried the wipers one of which isindicated at I.

2 collected thereon. In the oscillating type of wind- As the cylinderreciprocates within the casing 3 2 shield cleaner some attention hasbeen given to and simultaneously carries with it the carriage thisinterior cleaning, as by mounting an inner 5, the wiper-carrying arms 6move their rewiper to swing coaxially with the outer wiper to spectivewipers back and forth across the right thereby clear an inner zonecoextensive with that and left portions of the front face of the windcleaned by the exteriorly mounted wiper. In this shield glass 8. 25oscillating type, the inner wiper is fixed to the The present inventionincorporates means oscillating shaft of the outer wiper for movementoperable by and during movement of the exterior therewith and is notcapable of being rendered wiper or wipers for wiping the inner face ofthe inoperative independently of the outer wiper. windshield glass. Thismeans preferably has a The present invention aims to provide a.windmovement coextensive with the exterior wipers, 30 shield cleanerwhich will clean practically the and in the present form of theinvention I have entire inner and outer surfaces of the windshield showna plurality of inner wipers 9 preferably of so as to afford anincreased, unclouded field of felt and spaced apart and arranged inwiping vision. I contact with the inner face of the glass, with Theinvention further resides in the provision means f r ctuatin the e w perto lik wise cl n 35 of means for disrupting the operation of thesubstantially the entire width of the windshield. interior wiper so thatthe latter maybe parked Adjacent the header bar or top frame member orremain at rest when the inner surface of of the windshield, indicated at10,1 have shown the windshield glass does not require cleaning a track Hon which operates an inner wiper carwhile permitting the outer wiper tocontinue riase and which may comprise upp and l wer, 40

functioning. concave rails l2, the carriage illustrated com:

The invention further resides in the structural pnsing spaced trucksmembers coupled P features and their arrangements and combina- Ft as bya rod '9 truck? havlng tions hereinafter more fully described and ridingengagement with the rails I2 with or without anti-friction means. Theinner carriage (I3, 45 clawed reference bemg had to the accompany I4) isprovided with spaced bearings IS in which ing drawing wherein thesupportmg arms l6 for the inner wipers 9 1 1S a fragmentary perspectlvef q are engaged and resiliently urged against the mg glejaner emtfodyntgthe present mventmn inner face of the glass 8, as by the springs l1.

-PP to awmdshleld- The inner carriage is coupled for movement 2 15 afragmentary elevatlon showing Part" with the outer carriage 5 so thatthe movement r a p i of the inner carriage with its of the motorcylinder I will be transmitted or implin m a s at v a d w th t p rparted to the inner carriage to reciprocate the actuating element. same,on its track H, simultaneously with the Fig. 3 i a transverse verticalsection through" outer carriage. This transmission or drive for 55 "theinner' carriage may simply consist of a flexible link or cable l8trained over suitably arranged guide wheels or pulleys l9 which are soarranged as to define a flight or section H! of the cable adjacent thetrack I I in substantial parallelism therewith.

The cable may embody a resilient portion 20, if desired, to accommodateor take care of any sudden jars or strains. On this flight or section l8a position determining member or coupling means is fixed forautomatically coupling the inner carriage to the cable in a definiterelationship to the exterior wiper, the latter usually being fixed tothe actuator I, I8 A simple embodiment of this coupling means comprisesa coupler head having spaced engaging parts 2| and 22 between which adetent or coupling element 23 is designed to enter, the detent beingarranged on the inner carriage. This coupling element 23 is retractiblefrom between the parts 2| and 22 of the coupling head, as by a lever 24which may be retained in its inoperative position by engaging behind astop 25 arranged on a supporting shelf 21 of the inner carriage. Aspring 26 may act to hold the coupling element 23 in its operativeposition and, to coact with the spring in such functioning, the edge ofthe shelf is provided with a cage portion that encircles the flexiblecable l8 so as to prevent sidewise movement of the coupling head awayfrom the element 23, as is clearly shown in Fig. 4. During thereciprocatory movement of the coupling head the parts 2| and 22 willalternately function to act on the coupling element 23 to impart likereciprocatory motion to the inner carriage.

In operating the improved windshield cleaner, the cylinder l is set inoperation as by establishing communication between the interior thereofwith a source of low pressure, such as the intake manifold of the motorvehicle engine. As the cylinder l reciprocates and imparts like movementto its directly carried wiper arms 6, the cable l8 will also bereciprocated back and forth over its guide pulleys l9, and the couplerhead 21, 22 will be reciprocated adjacent the track II at the inner sideof the header bar Hi. When it is desired to couple the inner carriagefor movement so as to effect cleaning of the inner face of the glass thedriver of the motor vehicle will disengage the lever 24 from its stop 25and permit the spring to move the coupling element 23 into the path ofthe coupler head and therefore, if the head is not so disposed as to beimmediately engaged by the detent when said head does move into the cageportion of the shelf 21, it will depress the element 23 until the part22 passes thereby whereupon the spring 26 will return the element 23 toits projected position where it will couple the inner carriage to thecable I8 for movement therewith. By reason of the fixed position of thecoupler head on the portion l8 of cable is the inner wiper will alwaysbecome coupled therewith in the same spaced relationship to the exteriorwiper and when so coupled will always clean the same. area of thewindshield glass and therfly avoid injury to either the cleanermechanism or the interior wiper through an improper spaced relationship.When it is desired to discontinue the use of the inner wipers thecoupling element 23 is retracted by manipulating the lever 24 until itengages back of stop 25 where it remains until again moved to a couplingposition, and if the inner carriage is not already disposed, or parked,at the right hand side of the windshield it may be moved laterally onthe track II to one side of the vdirect line of vision of the driver asby part 2| engaging the cage portion of shelf 21.

What is claimed is:

1. A windshield cleaner comprising an endless actuator, spaced supportsabout which the actuator operates, means for reciprocating the actuator,an exterior wiper, an interior wiper, said wipers being disposed foracting respectively on the outer and inner surfaces of a windshieldglass, means securing one of said wipers to the actuator for being movedthereby back and forth on one side of the windshield glass, and meansdetachably coupling the companion wiper to the actuator for being movedby the latter back and forth on the opposite side of the windshieldglass, said coupling means comprising a position determining memberfixed to said actuator at a point spaced from said one of said wipersand movable back and forth with the latter, and a coacting memberconnected to said companion 'wiper and automatically engageable withsaid position determining member in definitely spaced relation to saidsecured wiper, whereby said companion wiper will always be coupled tothe actuator definitely spaced from said secured wiper to insure saidwipers cooperating to clean predetermined surface portions of thewindshield glass.

2. In a windshield cleaner structure for wiping outside and insidesurfaces of a windshield glass, a pair of wipers, means for guiding saidwipers in cleaning movements in opposed relation across the oppositesurfaces'of said glass, means for actuating said wipers simultaneously,said means including an endless actuator, a wiper actuating coupler headfixed on said actuator means, a coupler element associated with one ofsaid wipers and automatically engageable with said coupler head formovement therewith, means for connecting said'endless actuator to theother wiper,

and means operable to disengage said coupler element from said couplerhead, whereby said wiper associated with said coupler element becomesinoperative and the other of said wipers continues to operate.

3. In a windshield cleaner structure for wiping outside and insidesurfaces of a windshield glass, a pair of wipers, means for guiding saidwipers in rectilinear cleaning movements across the surfaces of saidglass, means for actuating said wipers simultaneously, said meansincluding a coupler head fixed on said actuating means, a couplerelement associated with one of said wipers and engaging said couplerhead for movement therewith, means for connecting the other wiper to theactuating means, means operable to disengage said coupler element fromsaid coupler head, a stop for maintaining said means in a disengagedposition, and means on said coupler element engageable by said couplerhead, whereby when said wiper associated with said coupling element isrendered inoperative and the actuating means continues to operate, saidinoperative wiper is moved to a parked position.

4. A reciprocatory cleaner for a windshield glass comprising a wipermeans operably mounted for rectilinear reciprocatory movement acrosssaid glass, means for reciprocating said wiper means, a coupler headfixed on said reciprocating means, said coupler head having a pair ofspaced shouiders, a coupling means associated with said wiper and havinga coupling part automatically engageable between said shoulders toconnect said wiper to said coupler head in a definite relationship tosaid reciprocating means for reciprocatory movement therewith, meansoperable to disengage said part from said couplerihead to render saidwiper inoperative, and parking means on said coupling means engageablewith one of said shoulders, whereby when said coupling part isdisengaged from said coupler head during movement of said reciprocatorymeans said shoulder engages said parking means and moves said wiper to aparked position.

5. In a windshield cleaner structure for wiping a windshield glass, apair of rectilinearly movable wiper means, operating means connected toone wiper means for actuating it in its rectilinear movement, saidoperating means and the other wiper means having automatic couplingmeans associated therewith for automatically coupling said other wiperto the operating means by and during movement of said operating meanswhen said coupling means is in a coupling position, said coupling meansincluding mechanism selectively adjustable into and out of couplingposition.

6. A cleaner for a windshield glass comprising a rectilinearly movablemechanism, wiper means rectilinearly movable across the windshieldglass, means for supporting part of the wiper means in the path ofmovement of part of said mechanism, said mechanism and wiper meanshaving means operatively connected thereto for automatically couplingsaid wiper means to said rectilinearly movable mechanism by and duringrectilinear movement thereof and in a predetermined relation theretowhenever said coupling means is in a coupling position, means forpositioning said coupling means in an automatic coupling position, andmeans operably connected to the coupling means for maintaining thelatter in said coupling position.

7. A cleaner for both surfaces of a windshield glass comprising areciprocable mechanism, a pair of wiper means, one of said wiper meansbeing operably connected to said reciprocable mechanism for movementtherewith across one surface of the windshield glass, the companionwiper means being movable across the other surface of the windshieldglass, said reciprocable mechanism and companion means havinginter-engageable coupling means thereon for automatically coupling thecompanion wiper means to said reciprocable mechanism by and duringmovement thereof in a predetermined relation thereto whenever saidcoupling means is in a coupling position, said reciprocable mechanismincluding means responsive to movement'of the latter and movable intocontact with and to park said companion wiper means whenever saidcoupling means is 'in an uncoupled position, and means for selectivelyadjusting the coupling means into or out of coupling position.

8. In a windshield cleaner, a rectilinearly movable part, a wiperactuating member secured to said part and movable in response torectilinear movement of the latter, means for guiding said actuatingmember, rectilinearly movable wiper means operably mounted adjacent saidactuating member for rectilinear movement therewith; means for guidingsaid wiper m ans in its rectilinear movement, said actuating member andwiper means carrying coupling means for automatically coupling saidwiper means to said actuating member in a predetermined relation theretoby and during movement of said part and member whenever said couplingmeans is in a coupling position, said coupling means including acoupling element movable from an inoperative position to an operativecoupling position and movable in the path of movement of the couplingmeans portion carried by said actuating member whereby said elementautomatically couples the wiper means to the actuating member.

9. In a windshield cleaner, a rectilinearly movable part, a wiperactuating member secured to said part and movable in response torectilinear movement of said part, means for guiding said actuatingmember, rectilinearly movable wiper means operably mounted adjacent saidactuating member for rectilinear movement therewith, means for guidingsaid wiper means in its rectilinear movement, said actuating member andwiper means carrying interengageable coupling means for automaticallycoupling said wiper means to said actuating member in predeterminedrelation thereto by and during movement of said part whenever saidcoupling means is in a coupling position, said coupling means includinga coupler head located in the path of movement of the coupling meansportion carried by said wiper means and secured to said actuating memberin a definite relation thereto, and a coupling element included in saidcoupling means and movable from a coupling position to an uncouplingposition whereby in said latter position said coupler head engages saidwiper means and moves it to a parked position.

10. In a windshield cleaner structure for wiping the surfaces of awindshield glass, an interior wiper for cleaning the inner windshieldglass surface, an exterior wiper for cleaning the outer windshield glasssurface, actuating means for operating the one wiper independently ofthe other wiper, means for supporting the actuating means, saidactuating means and said other wiper having engageable mechanism partsautomatically operable to couple said other wiper to the actuating meansby and during movement of the latter and in predetermined spacedrelation to said one wiper for concurrent operation therewith wherebyduring the coupled relation of said other wiper to the actuating meansthe predetermined spaced relation remains between the inner and outerwipers throughout their concurrent movements in cleaning the inner andouter surfaces, respectively, of the windshield glass.

11. In a windshield cleaner structure for wiping the surfaces of awindshield glass, an interior wiper for cleaning the inner windshieldglass surface, an exterior wiper for cleaning the cuter windshield glasssurface, means for guiding each wiper in rectilinear movements over theinner and outer surfaces of the windshield glass, operating means foroperating the one wiper independently of the other wiper, means forsupporting said actuating means, said actuating means and said otherwiper having engageable mechanism parts automatically operable fordetachably coupling said other wiper to the actuating means by andduring movement of the latter in predetermined spaced relation to saidone wiper for concurrent operation therewith, whereby during the coupledrelation of said other wiper to the actuating means the predeterminedspaced relation remains between the inner and outer wipers throughouttheir concurrent movements in cleaning the inner and outer surfaces,respectively, of the windshield glass.

12. In a windshield cleaner structure for wiping inside and outsidesurfaces of a windshield glass, an interiorly disposed wiper, andexteriorly disposed wiper, a flexible mechanism movable in apredetermined path for automatically actuating the twowipers on theirrespective sides of the windshield glass, means for supporting saidflexible mechanism, means for moving said 5 mechanism in itspredetermined path, connect- 10 ing part definitely positioned on saidflexible mechanism for movement therewith, and a cooperating memberconnected to said other wiper for automatic coupling engagement withsaid part by and during movement of the latter, whereby said other wiperupon automatic coupling with the actuating part remains coupled with thelatter in a definite relation with respect to said one wiper forcoaction in cleaning opposite sides of the windshield.

BARTON A. BEAN, JR.

